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Kashmir conflict
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict between Pakistan and India concerning the status of Kashmir, a mountainous former princely state whose Hindu ruler Hari Singh, against the will of his majority-Muslim subjects, joined Kashmir and Jammu with India during the Partition of India in 1947. The war resulted in India maintaining control over a portion of the region, known as its province of "Jammu and Kashmir", while Pakistan owned "Azad Kashmir" ("Free Kashmir") in the west of the region. Since 1947, the Kashmir conflict has led to three open wars between India and Pakistan, to several skirmishes between the two countries, and to the development of separatist and jihadist groups in Kashmir, many of which were backed by the Pakistani government. Following the end of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, India and Pakistan entered a state of cold war, and democratic development in Kashmir was limited under Indian rule. In June 1988, an increase in the power tariff led to violent agitation in Kashmir, which increased following the death of Pakistani leader Zia-ul-Haq in 1988. On 11-12 September 1988, the first bunch of Pakistani-trained Kashmiri youths were arrested, and the first Pakistani-trained militant to be killed, Aijaz Dar, was killed on 18 September 1988. The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, which had been formed during the 1970s, formed the Quit Kashmir Movement from 11 to 14 May 1989, and, on 13 July 1989, all-out insurgency began when 3 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed in the first attack on Indian government forces by the insurgents. During the 1990s, the insurgency escalated into the most important security issue in India as Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) trained Kashmiri militants and sent them across the Line of Control to attack Indian Kashmir. Pakistan supplied the rebel groups with logistical support, arms, recruits, and training, and the JKLF made use of weapons smuggling networks in Pakistan. In 2003, the Indian military launched "Operation Sarp Vinash" against terrorists like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, al-Badr, and Jaish-e-Mohammed in the Pir Panjal region of Jammu and Kashmir, killing 64 terrorists. Beginning in 2004, Pakistan began to end its open support for the Kashmiri insurgency, as Kashmiri terrorist groups twice attempted to assassinate Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. His successor Asif Ali Zardari called the Kashmiri insurgents "terrorists", but the ISI did not follow the government's commitment to ending support for the insurgency. India sent large numbers of troops to the Pakistani border to suppress the insurgency, leading to widespread protests against the military occupation in Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahideen was targeted by the military, and its remaining commanders and cadres were taken out on a regular interval by security forces into the 2010s, causing the group to fade away. In 2008, Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out a series of attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai, killing 166 people and injuring over 600. The group continued to gain recruits into the 2010s, and, although the Pakistani government attempted to suppress the Kashmiri insurgency, several militants continued to successfully cross the Line of Control and join the struggle in India. By 2018, 5,462 security forces, over 21,000 militants, and between 20,228-100,000 civilians were killed in the insurgency. Category:Wars